Waynesburg University science day introduces high school students to the field
High school students engage in a chemistry lab during Science Day at Waynesburg University, a day designed for area high schools to learn about various fields of science. (Photos by Rebecca Devereaux)
Trinity High School sophomores Jack Beechan (left) and Zemar Loper perform a presumptive blood test called a Kastle-Meyer test during a forensic science lesson as part of Science Day for high school students at Waynesburg University. (Photo by Rebecca Devereaux)
Trinity High School sophomores Maria Cimino (left) and Lauren Turtorice engage in a chemistry experiment during Science Day at Waynesburg University. Science Day is for high school students interested in various science disciplines.
Waynesburg University associate professor of chemistry Dr. Evonne Baldauff demonstrates how to create a battery in a chemistry lab.
Waynesburg University associate professor of chemistry Dr. Evonne Baldauff teaches a chemistry lab to high school students. (Photo by Rebecca Devereaux)
Dr. Evonne Baldauff hopes chemical reactions, high-tech instruments and fiery solutions can win the hearts of students and prompt them to pursue a career in science.
The Waynesburg University associate chemistry professor and chair of the school鈥檚 chemistry and forensic science department is the organizer of Science Day, an event held each spring on Waynesburg鈥檚 campus to introduce high school students to a myriad science disciplines taught within the walls of Paul R. Stewart Science Hall.
鈥淥verall, we want them to see that science is a great field of study. An undergraduate degree in science will set you up for a career in all types of fields,鈥� said Baldauff.
Open to high schools across Fayette, Greene and Washington counties, the annual event was started in the 1990s to spark students鈥� interest in science.
While college faculty once traveled to area schools to perform demonstrations, the university began bringing students to campus for Science Day 15 years ago to allow them to experience a college environment, explained Baldauff.
鈥淲e try to plan the day as a way for them to see themselves as science students,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e want to give them some experience doing things they maybe haven鈥檛 seen before due to the limitation of resources available (in schools).鈥�
In conjunction with the Waynesburg student chapter of the American Chemical Society, the Department of Chemistry and Forensic Science hosted 60 students from three regional high schools 鈥� Waynesburg Central, Trinity and Washington 鈥� in April as they attended sessions taught by college faculty members.
Students attended presentations and participated in hands-on lessons in branches of study such as biochemistry, physiology, computer programming and forensic analysis.
Baldauff, for instance, in an exercise on chemical reactions, walked students through an experiment that used the electrons in salt and lemon juice to complete a circuit that fueled a battery to make a clock tick.
She gave faculty members the freedom to plan lessons at their own discretion that presented the science at a level that the high school students could readily understand.
In Brad Davis鈥� chemistry analysis session, students used a spectrophotometer to identify compounds in unidentified powders by measuring their light beams.
鈥淚n middle schools and high schools, a lot of the labs don鈥檛 have a lot of instruments to work with,鈥� said Davis, an assistant professor of chemistry at Waynesburg.
鈥淐oming here to the school they can see the instrumentation of it, get a little hands on and see what it鈥檚 like to work in a higher-tech lab.鈥�
Baldauff said part of the program is to talk to students about what they can do if they major in a science discipline.
She said she has seen students attend Waynesburg University because they experienced Science Day while in high school.
鈥淗opefully the exposure to those things will, if not clarify what a chemist does, get them interested in finding out,鈥� she said.
鈥淚f they walk away saying 鈥榮cience is more cool than I thought it was,鈥� it would be a good first step.鈥�